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Badal Roy (Bangla: বাদল রায়) (born Amarendra Roy Choudhury in Comilla, eastern Bengal, British India (now Bangladesh), 1945) is a tabla player and percussionist known for his work in jazz, cross-cultural music, and experimental music.

Roy was born into a Hindu family in a predominantly Muslim eastern Bengal region of British India (which later became East Pakistan, then Bangladesh).[1] His nickname, Badal (meaning "rain," "cloud," or "thunder" in the Bengali language) was given to him by his grandfather after he began crying in the rain as a baby.[2]

He emigrated to New York City in 1968 with only eight dollars and began working as a busboy and waiter in various Indian restaurants. Soon, however, he began performing with Steve Gorn at a restaurant called Raga, eventually attracting the attention of Miles Davis. Davis invited Roy to join his group, and Roy's playing is documented on Davis's albums On the Corner (1972), Big Fun (1969-72; released 1974), and Get Up with It (1970-74). Roy subsequently performed and recorded with many leading jazz musicians, including Davis, Dave Liebman, Pharaoh Sanders, John McLaughlin, Airto Moreira, Charlie Haden, Yoko Ono, and Ornette Coleman (playing in Coleman's electric band Prime Time). In the 1990s Roy began performing with the Brazilian guitar duo Duofel. He has also collaborated with Ken Wessel and Stomu Takeishi in a fusion trio named Alankar. They currently have one album entitled Daybreak.

Unlike many tabla player, Roy does not come from a family of professional musicians and is essentially self-taught.[3] Consequently, his playing is freer than that of many other tabla players, who adhere more strictly to the tala system of Indian rhythm. He often plays a set of up to five tabla (tuned to different pitches) at a time, which he plays melodically as well as rhythmically.

He has appeared and offered workshops at the Starwood Festival and at the SpiritDrum Festival[4], a special tribute to the late Babatunde Olatunji (co-sponsored by ACE and Musart), with Muruga Booker, Jim Donovan of Rusted Root, Halim El-Dabh, and Sikiru Adepoju, among others[5]. He often plays with Muruga Booker in the Global Village Ceremonial Band, and with Michael Wolff & Impure Thoughts.

In 2004, Roy worked with Richie Havens on the album The Grace of the Sun. In the first half of 2006, Roy traveled to Japan in order to appear in a tribute for David Baker, his recently deceased recording engineer and friend.

He speaks the Bengali, English, Hindi, and Urdu languages.[6]

Contents 1 Discography 1.1 As leader 1.2 With Amit Chatterjee 1.3 With Ornette Coleman 1.4 With Miles Davis 1.5 With Steve Gorn 1.6 With Richie Havens 1.7 With Bill Laswell 1.8 With David Liebman 1.9 With Herbie Mann 1.10 With John McLaughlin 1.11 With Yoko Ono 1.12 With Mike Richmond 1.13 With Perry Robinson 1.14 With Pharoah Sanders 1.15 With Lonnie Liston Smith 1.16 With Leni Stern 1.17 With Steve Turre 1.18 With Michael Wolff & Impure Thoughts 1.19 With other artists 2 External links

• 1997 - One in the Pocket (Nomad)
• 1998 - Daybreak - Alankar
• 2002 - Kolkata Rose (with Geoff Warren)
• 2002 - Raga Roni (with Perry Robinson & Ed Schuller) Geeta

• 1997 - Endless Radiance (Art of the Duo) (Tutu)

• 1995 - Tone Dialing - Ornette Coleman

• 1974 - Big Fun (2xLP) Columbia Records, 2xCD Columbia (reissued 2000)
• 1974 - Get Up With It (2xLP) Columbia Records 1974 (2xCD Coline 1991, 2000)
• 1988 - Miles Davis: The Columbia Years 1955 - 1985 (Box set, also 4xCD) Columbia
• 1993 - On The Corner (CD, Album) Columbia Records, (Legacy reissued 2000)
• 1997 - Miles Davis In Concert: Live At Philharmonic Hall, Legacy
• 1998 - Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974

• 1983 - Yantra: Flute and Tabla (reissued 1994)

• 2004 - Grace of the Sun

• 1998 - Sacred System: Nagual Site (CD) BMG
• 2000 - Lo. Def Pressure (LP & CD) Sub Rosa

• 1974 - Lookout Farm (LP) ECM Records
• 1975 - Passing Dreams (reissued 1998, 2002)
• 1975 - Drum Ode (LP) ECM Records
• 1975 - Sweet Hands
• 1975 - Ashirbad (reissued 2002)
• 1976 - Father Time

• Sun Belt (Atlantic)

• 1999 - My Goals Beyond Knit Classics (Ryko)

• 1982 - It's Alright (I See Rainbows)
• 1992 - Onobox
• 1992 - Walking on Thin Ice

• 1988 - Basic Tendencies (with Glen Velez) Music of the World
• 1994 - Asian Journal (with Nana Vasconcelos & Steve Gorn)

• 1978 - Kundalini

• 1972 - Wisdom Through Music (Impulse! Records)
• 1974 - Love In Us All (CD) Universal Music (Japan)

• 1973 - Golden Dreams
• 1973 - Astral Traveling - Lonnie Liston Smith (LP) Flying Dutchman (reissued Bluebird Jazz 2002)

• 1991 - Ten Songs
• 1998 - Recollection

• 1992 - Sanctified Shells
• 2000 - In the Valley of Sacred Sound - Harold E. Smith

• 2000 - Impure Thoughts Indianola Music
• 2001 - Intoxicate Indianola Music
• 2004 - Dangerous Vision Artemis Records
• 2006 - Love & Destruction Rong Records

• 1967 - Virgo Vibes - Roy Ayers (reissued 2002)
• 1979 - Earthquake Island - Jon Hassell (Tomato Music)
• 1984 - Mood Swing - The Nails (LP) RCA
• 1989 - Dancing With The Lion - Andreas Vollenweider (CD) CBS (reissued with bonus tracks 2005)
• 1993 - Angel Rodeo - Lisa Sokolov
• 1993 - Prophecy: The Whale & the Elephant Trade Notes on the State of the World - Zusaan Kali Fasteau (Flying Note)
• 1997 - Rising Sun - D. K. Dyson (Ocean Records)
• 1998 - Wake Up And Dream - Ekstasis (CD) CyberOctave
• 2000 - Musica: Music of India (with Luiz Bueno)
• 2001 - Export Quality - Dum Dum Project (2xLP) X-Squared Records
• 2001 - Daughters of the Sun - Nana Simopoulos (Na. Records)
• 2001 - Branching Out - William Cepeda (Blue Jackel)
• 2002 - Simirillion: Of Unicorns and Jasmine ...A Lover's Tale
• 2002 - Sacred Spaces - Lee Boice
• 2003 - Rebirth - Children On The Corner (Sonance Records)
• 2003 - Heavy Skies - Roman Kunsman (Downtown Jazz)
• 2005 - Free Funk with Muruga Booker & The Global Village Ceremonial Band (with Perry Robinson & Belita Woods) Qbico 2005
• 2006 - Vivid (with Barney Mcall & Rufus Cappadocia)
• Songs For Sitar and Tabla (with Arooj Lazenal)

• "Badal Roy: Funky Tabla" (Artist Profile from Music of the World site)
• "Tale of A Tabla Nonconformist" by Iris Brooks